I am sweltering beneath the costume. The thermometer reads nearly 90 degrees and I’m dressed in layers meant for a cool, crisp New England evening. Unfortunately, Halloween in Florida just doesn’t have the same vibe that it possesses elsewhere. After all the leaves don’t change color and die. There’s no harvest, no creepy graveyards and no sense of death. It’s also hard to imagine witches and ghosts hanging about in this heat. They probably flit away to cooler climes like a bat out of hell. Speaking of Hell, Dante’s Inferno actually seems rather appropriate. Hence the sign we display for all our unsuspecting visitors:

Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here!

Though, there is one special visitor this year. The neighborhood stray, Vader, has graciously decided to improve our Halloween display. Three guesses how he earned that name.

In honor of the holiday I will present a feature on the history of Halloween, a review of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a poem, and a story of this year’s Trick or Treating escapades.